


Rachel the net agent

by Rangerfan58



Series: Net agent stories [3]
Category: Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-12-01 01:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 16,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11475852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangerfan58/pseuds/Rangerfan58





	1. Chapter 1

well Rachel was in trouble and she knew it, she was completely surrounded by the enemy and no backup to help her either. Suddenly one of her enemies talks to her and not her netnavi

"you're in for it now Hidden Shadow, after all we've cut off all means of support so you can no longer just call for help from your friends"

"what did you do to my friends and their navis?"

"oh nothing much just put them in a container slowly filling up with water and made sure to...distract the navi's as well with tons of viruses protecting the controls of that container"

"you creep"

"well now you've exhausted yourself trying to get here and your navi is also exhausted as far as we know so die Hiddenman!"

Hiddenman would've been hit too if not for one little surprise that none of them knew about

"not so fast"

"Colonel?"

"that's right Hiddenman"

in the real world they all turned and faced the voice that had spoken up

"Barrel what are you doing here?"

"the netpolice have been a bit suspicious about the going's on lately and asked Netopia for some unofficial help, though I was allowed to use whatever force I needed here, and I found out about these guys"

"but how did you find our secret location?"

(scoffs) "like I have to tell you guys? I'll give you a hint it involves my profession but that's all I'm telling you"

Rachel quickly figures out he used his military training to his advantage but doesn't reveal that instead she just goes straight back into action repaying the quick save with one of her own

"good save Hidden Shadow"

"thanks Barrel, now what do you say to ending this plan?"

"good idea"

and so they finish off the group and manage to save their friends just in the nick of time too it appeared

"that was too close"

"commander are you and the others alright?"

"we're fine Hidden Shadow, we all covered each others backs and made sure none of us drowned though it was close with Mysteriyu"

"not" (coughs) "you're fault commander, it was my choice"

"Mysteriyu are we going to have to have  _that_  talk again?"

"no Hidden Shadow we won't"

"then tell the truth, and don't do something like that again or regret it"

"understood"

a few weeks later things were calmer, not much but they were calmer and everyone was just talking about the enemy and how they were going to fight them when suddenly Rachel was pushed aside by Barrel and they saw him go down and go down hard, when they searched for the culprit they found them but it was only a shadow and then the person up and disappeared but they didn't give chase, not when Barrel was in need of immediate medical attention. Several hours later in the hospital


	2. Chapter 2

"how is he doctor?"

(sighs) "well he's still alive but...in a coma"

"what?"

"look when he pushed Rachel down he not only took the shot obviously meant for her but, he also hit his head pretty hard"

"I see when will he be allowed visitors?"

"not until tomorrow at least, everyone here needs rest after what they've been through and we want him stable for at least twelve hours before he has visitors"

"understood, we'll come back tomorrow then"

well over the course of the next month Rachel visits Barrel often mainly due to some connections she'd made recently and had confirmed  _very_  privately with the Netopian government which included a full story she needed to hear to understand what exactly happened. A month after all this started Barrel finally woke up, not for very long only a minute to answer one question of the doctor's who was in the room checking up on him but still that raised the entire groups spirits when they found out

"it's a good sign net agents, this means that he'll likely survive, but beyond that I can't tell you anything more for the simple reason that I don't want to guess with anyone's livelihood"

"thank you for telling us this much"

as it turned out Barrel remembered everything. A few days after he woke up for more than five minutes he and Rachel were alone due to the fact that everyone had agreed to take turns on watch and it was  _Rachel_  not Hidden Shadow who had a turn at watch, Hidden Shadow's turn was later that week

"so Barrel, will you be glad to be out of here once you're strong enough?"

"yes I will be Rachel"

"Barrel...we need to talk"

"about what?"

"about the fact that you're younger than you look, about the fact you shouldn't exist...about the fact that five years ago I lost my big brother in a fight against Grave and Netopia wound up getting a new member due to time travel and his name was changed from Barranel to Barrel and his net navi was made into a military navi and given the name Colonel since Buster would've been too obvious once the time came for him to meet up with his little sister who grew up without her big brother for five years"

(sighs) "how did you find out?"

"it wasn't easy let me tell you, it didn't fully register until you took that hit for me and I was able to fully think things through and confirm them with your commanding officers in my net agent form"

"wait you're a net agent?"

"yep, later this month will be the fourth year anniversary, oh and your commanding officers know about my agent status, I figured I'd trade an identity for an identity with the commander's permission"

"how hard was it to get commander Beef's permission?"

"surprisingly easy considering the fact that we feel we need allies in Netopia beside you and Dingo"

"so how  _did_  you find out?"

"well you actually reminded me of yourself for one thing, the way you talked, your mannerisms around people, your incredibly strong protective streak of people weaker than you, but the thing that clenched it for me was Colonel net battling against the enemy, you may have changed the style to match your new found training and used it for the past twenty years but you'd always be hard pressed to fool your baby sister for long"

"that's what I get for training you to be a net battler"

"precisely, though now we have to think about what happens now"

"yeah, I don't want to deny you being my sister but at the same time..."

"same problem with me, with the added trouble of our parents, who  _still_  don't know I'm an agent"

"how about professional conduct when together with the rest and if we find ourselves alone we'll act like the family we are and get each other caught up?"

"plus with the fact that I've spent a lot of time with you while unconscious in my 'normal' form it would stand to reason if I accompanied you to most of your physical therapy session we could plausibly become friends"

"like you are with Lan"

"hey they consider you a friend as well, especially after saving my life almost at the cost of yours"

well over the next two months Barrel had an intense physical therapy regime to get him back to just walking around without the need for help, and like she predicted Rachel was the one with Barrel the most at the sessions which allowed them to catch up with each other since he was given a private room and Netopian doctors were sent over due to a previous incident a few years earlier that they had no wish of repeating...period. A month into the regime

"so why exactly did Netopia specify that Barrel had to do his physical therapy with you guys?"

"well you know that Barrel is really your older brother who's ten years older then he should be right?"

"yeah that's why I've been telling him the stuff I've been doing for five years"

"what you don't know is that he managed to get himself hurt five years after he was sent to the past and he got hurt  _bad_  for a while there no one was quite sure if he would live, but he did and then went into physical therapy and once there well..."

"I basically pushed myself too far, too fast and almost landed myself back in the hospital in worse condition then I arrived in"

"after he pulled that stunt Netopian officials realized he would have to be watched if he was ever injured badly enough to need physical therapy, but it can't just be anyone assigned to watch him it has to be people with experience rehabilitating wounded soldiers"

well he finally completed physical therapy and was released from the hospital and he was quite grateful for that too especially because of the fact that trouble was brewing in Netopia and he needed to be there for them

"well I need to be going"

"yeah, take care will ya?"

"I will Lan, I will"

"and Dingo?"

"he'll also be taken care of I promise"

well most of the group left besides Rachel

"guess this is goodbye, will I see you again?"

"hopefully yes, and without the world in big trouble that it needs us to combine our forces"

they hug each other in a final goodbye then turn away from each other and head towards their own directions they needed to head in but before either got too far Barrel called out to Rachel

"Rachel"

she turns and grabs something in mid air and looks at it

"what is this?"

"a promise of my return, but it packs a little extra something with that promise, if you're ever in dire need just use this chip and you'll get a surprise"

and with that they finally parted ways. A few weeks later Dentech was in as much if not more trouble then Netopia due to the fact that they were suddenly ganged up on by all World Three agents in multiple areas


	3. Chapter 3

"we're surrounded Rachel"

"I know that already Lightman and I'm trying my best to get you backup but so far everyone's a bit busy"

"I know but still"

suddenly her phone rang and she answered it

"yes?...really?...how mad are they?...I see well at least they can come back us up now...oh OK I understand"

and so she continues battling and nothing seemed to work when suddenly she grabbed the chip Barrel had given her weeks ago

"well if any time we're in dire need it's now, Colonel, battle chip in and download"

she activates a chip and gets quite the surprise suddenly Colonel shows up

"looks like you could use some help Lightman, Searchman"

"Colonel how did you get here?"

"later, Screen Divide"

well finally the enemy was taken out for the moment and they all had a chance to actually rest and talk

"OK Colonel spill, you're supposed to be in Netopia right now so what are you doing here?"

"Rachel, you know that chip you used that Barrel gave you?"

"what about it?"

"it wasn't just a promise of his return, he designed this chip himself so that his allies could call him in their greatest time of need like you just did"

"wow, but wait what if I had used the chip and you were already in the midst of battle?"

"the chip won't activate, it'll just pop right out of your PET without ever even trying to activate"

"great news, thanks Colonel"

"no problem now if you'll excuse me there's still lot's of cleaning up to do from all those attacks on Netopia"

"right see you around Colonel"

well a year later Barrel was actually in town actually relaxing for once and since World Three had gone into hiding recently they decided that as long as they had their PET's they would be OK to go camping, what they didn't know was that the enemy was trailing them and waiting for the right moment to take out a member or two of the group and a Netopian officer was a bonus they would enjoy trying to take out. Five hours later in the mountains

"man it's been a while since we've actually been able to relax"

"yeah though I wonder why the net agents refused our invitation after all they've worked twice as hard as we have to keep the net safe, from what I've heard they've hardly slept this past year unless forced by the net police and their own bodies"

"that reminds me why have you been so tired lately and missed school at least once a month Rachel?"

"personal problems Dex" (thinks) " _good thing the school knew my other identity due to Maysa's insistence_ "

well she falls behind to where Barrel is and they talk quietly to each other

"do our parents know why you've been so tired lately Rachel?"

"as if Barranel, as it is I only barely made plausible excuses a few times, and what they don't know is that over the past year the days I have missed at school are more for illness than exhaustion, the rest of the time I actually ignored I was sick, except during winter when I came down with the flu, then again almost everyone was out with the flu at some point this past winter so no one was surprised I was missing. The school does know about me and actually they were surprised at my coming down with the flu, well actually the recovery period, it took me two weeks while for the rest it took only up to a week"

"that's what you get for pushing yourself too hard"

"I know that but unfortunately we haven't had much of a choice in the matter"

(sighs) "yeah I know but still you guys should know better"

"we do know better it's just a bit hard doing it is all"

well finally they get to the camp site and for three out of the nine days there was relative peace, only the occasional cry for netbattling or arguments over who did what were ever heard when on the fourth day there was an attack on the netops and not their navi's

"you creeps"

"how many times have you brats called us that now?"

"World Three"

well suddenly it was pure chaos as the World Three agents tried to kill the group but then Barrel did something both brave and stupid at the same time he pushed all three of the World Three agents to the edge and then briefly looked back

"take care everyone, and tell Dingo I'm sorry"

and with that all four of them went over the edge with no sign of them, only a swift flowing river which obviously no one could survive but suddenly Rachel spots something as do the others. An hour later they make it to the object safely and find out it was Barrel's coat that had somehow gotten off of him but they figured it happened mid air during a struggle, which was actually true but they couldn't be too sure about it, and thus was useless in all other aspects

"hey guys, I no longer feel like camping here, I don't mind finishing our vacation outdoors, but not at this location"

"we have to leave anyways, Netopia needs to be informed of Barrel's death and who knows what else World Three has planned since they're obviously back from their hiatus"

"Chaud's right, let's go"

all of them started to leave except for Rachel

"goodbye Barranel, I promise I'll get the creeps that did this to you"

two days later they met with Dingo and two Netopian officials since they agreed not to tell them over the communications network, they were feeling a bit too vulnerable for that at the moment

"so why'd you want to meet us when you're supposed to be on break with Barrel?"

the group looks at each other briefly because even though they had discussed every possible thing they could about the meeting it still wasn't easy telling an allied nation one of their own died protecting others, finally though Rachel spoke up

"we were forced to cut our vacation short due to...circumstances beyond our control"

"what circumstances?"

"Dr. Hikari if you would get the box please?"

Lan's father leaves for a brief moment and then comes back with a box

"the contents of the box now belong to you since...since we know no known living relatives of his, we figured if he does have living relatives you would know"

the most senior official of the group figures it out first by partially repeating what was said

"no known...are you telling us Barrel is dead?"

that shocks the rest of the Netopian group while the Dentech group just nods their heads and Chaud picks up where Rachel left off

"yes, he died sending three World Three agents to their deaths over a cliff two days ago, what's in the box was all that was found after the initial find"

the senior official opens it up to find Barrel's jacket and tags

"why did he send them over a cliff, wasn't there a better option?"

the group remains quite for a time and then Lan speaks up

"unfortunately no, the location we picked was not only a bit remote so we could truly relax but we were surrounded by woods on three sides and the cliff on the fourth we were hiking alongside the cliff trying to decide what to do next when we were ambushed"

(sighs) "and so he took the best option he could and managed to get all three of them to the edge of the cliff and then pushed them over and the momentum took him along for the ride"

"exactly Dingo"

the senior official spoke up again

"I'm surprised that only three of the group has talked at all, were you not there as well?"

"they were there but well...it's hard to talk about this even after two days and everyone's still trying to process it"

"not to mention the fact that we agreed it would be easier to understand with as few people talking as possible"

"we understand"

and so they start discussing everything that happened and then finally it was time to leave

"you know you guys can come to the funeral if you want, with parents permission of course"

"well I already have my parents permission to go, just let me get my stuff packed and I'm yours"

"how did you get your parents permission so fast?"

"Colonel, they figured that if Colonel would be willing to sacrifice himself for others so would his netop so they gave me permission"

"alright we'll pick you up in an hour we still have some things to here still, bye the way was there any messages?"

"he only said to tell Dingo he was sorry"

"I see we'll see you in an hour"

and so they leave and Rachel is packed and an hour later she's ready and on the plane

"was there anything else found that you didn't give us?"

"no none, and we scoured for two days to find the dog tags"

"I see, Rachel this is for you"

she's tossed a chip

"Buster chip?"

"yes, it's made from what we couldn't save of Buster originally"

"you see we saw recently that Barranel was missing his old navi so we knew where the data we couldn't leave him with was and were preparing to come here anyways to have SciLabs make that chip"

"what do you mean?"

"well you know how we made Buster into Colonel what we  _didn't_  tell you was that some of the data we couldn't save like some of his memories and personality were put into a small computer for a later date to be made into a chip"

"what memories and personality?"

"not much just what happened right before he wound up with us and the fact that he net battled to save some of our navi's before he was made into Colonel and as for his personality we only made him slightly more calculating then he used to be"

Dingo speaks up

"OK who's Barranel and Buster?"

"sorry, I didn't think to ask if everyone was cleared before I answered more then your first question"

"Dingo's cleared on this Barranel made sure of it but he decided that he would only tell him if it was vital to his health"

"I see, Dingo Barranel is known to you as Barrel and Buster is known as Colonel to you as well"

"OK I get it"

"anyways we were talking about the chip"

"yes, well today during that hour we had Dr. Hikari make the chip, if it's in your PET it gives you back Buster with his basic attacks until his chip form is destroyed however you can always bring him back with the chip, if it's put in Barranel's PET Colonel changes back into Buster for the duration of the battle unless he's forced to jack out for his own health and can use Barrel's chips for him"

well a few hours later they land in Netopia and Rachel sleeps. The next day Dingo wakes Rachel up for a tour of the town when finally it was time to eat and they swapped stories of his antics before the cliffs

"one time there was this group that was after a military program that hadn't been researched in years because of bugs but we didn't know that at first, they attacked another part of town so naturally we concentrated on that area because of the danger and only later found out about the program being stolen"

"why was the research canceled?"

"it didn't work correctly, you see the original plan was to infect one of ours and detonate them close to the enemy giving them a nasty virus to take back to their country but either the navi detonated too late and everyone including the enemy got out in time or they detonated to early and even our allies couldn't get out of the danger zone so the project was canceled"

"so what happened with the enemy?"

"this is good, so they steal the program right, well a few days later they attack us with the program but because of all the bugs it didn't work correctly instead they only managed to infect themselves with no way of getting it to us and so they had to go through a  _major_  virus busting session for weeks"

they started laughing but then Rachel stopped

"Dingo why did Barrel say to apologize to you?"

(sighs) "because this has happened before, you see a year before he met up with you guys, we were dealing with a minor terrorist group and suddenly he was gone"

_a few years ago_

"we're surrounded Barrel"

"I know"

"sir!, there's a ravine up ahead"

"OK I have an idea we go to the ravine and then Colonel and I will play decoy since they're after us and not you, I'll use my line to stay out of the water and have you guys pull me up when it's over" (thinking) " _sorry guys but I won't be coming home with you if I'm to keep everyone safe_ "

and so they get to the ravine and it goes according to plan until the Netopian soldiers go to the edge and find only his line and swift flowing water

"Barrel is...dead"

one of the soldiers goes to his knees and hits his fists on the ground suddenly Dingo's PET beeps

"Dingo, Colonel's gone"

"what?"

"he went into the crevice like planned but he didn't use his sword to keep from falling in"

"I see" (realizes that both he and Tomahawkman are in charge as they were named second in command for this mission) "Tomahawkman we're moving out without trying to search for them" (he looks at the group) "alright I wanted everyone packed and ready to go to the extraction point five minutes ago"

everyone does as he's told because they understood that he wanted to be ready to leave as quickly as possible and that's when they realize Charles was injured so Dingo being both the closest and in command goes over to him

"Charles you OK?

"think I twisted my ankle on the way here in that mole hole"

"OK then I'm helping you walk for now"

and so they pick up Dingo's and Charles pack and after recovering the line get to the chopper. Two hours later they arrive at base and once Dingo drops Charles off for medical attention he goes to command to report in

"Team alpha, Dingo in command reporting in sir"

"Dingo?, wasn't Barrel in charge of this mission?"

"he was sir...until his death"

"I see, very well then make your report"

and so Dingo gives a full report including injuries and what happened to the terrorists

"very well, since you feel that not all the terrorists are dead your team is still on active duty, however you will go to the infirmary to make sure you don't have any unnoticed injuries and then take a week off to recover"

"yes sir"

and so a few months later the group was back and chasing someone

"hey guys, we're up that group is back and chasing a civilian let's go"

and so they get to the location and jack in and also find out why that person was being chased

"I'm not a traitor, I was never on your side to begin with, I only joined this group to figure out your goals and then take you down, Colonel jack in power up"

"Barrel but how?"

"later"

and so they fight and then head back to base where Barrel explains why and how he's still alive

"very well Barrel, however next time you do something like this even if they have to keep you being alive a secret you must contact someone who's an ally to tell them your alive so we don't go through that again"

"yes sir"

_present_

"and that's what happened"

"I see, maybe he was apologizing about the fact he wouldn't be able to contact anyone this time"

"maybe"

well later that week was the funeral and everyone was there, meanwhile in a mental hospital Barrel was still very much alive but amnesic in Sharo, he was only there until he could relearn everything he needed to survive which he did, finally once he was released into society as John Balancek he joined the Sharo government but not the military branch. Three months later was an international meeting and Barrel as John went over to represent Sharo


	4. Chapter 4

"how's Netopia been since the loss of Barrel?"

a representative who didn't have a PET speaks up

"things have been OK Dingo is there to make sure that no one causes trouble, how about here?"

"well..."

suddenly an alarm rang out

"that answer your question?"

the net agents were there because of the fact that they were needed, and Rachel's friends knew her secret because of an incident three weeks after the funeral

"Sharkman jack in power up!"

"Skullman jack in power up!"

"Woodman jack in power up!"

"Hiddenman jack in power up!, Lan, Dex, Maylu, Tori, Yai, you're on stand bye in case we need help"

"right"

well it got to the point where Rachel knew what she had to do

"commander permission for plan S"

"if you're sure about it"

"oh I'm sure"

"then permission granted"

"separation battle chip in and download"

Hiddenman separates into his two forms and Rachel was getting vicious with her chips for both navi's when finally she went into desperation mode

"Dark sword, Dark aura, Dark punch, Dark sky, Black moon battle chips in and..."

"Hidden Shadow are you sure about this?"

"positive...download!"

it doesn't work and she goes down to her knees physically weakened by that attack

"OK I have one last chip that might give us an edge, Buster battle chip in and download!"

unfortunately it isn't very affective and Lan and the others knew they had to join in

"Megaman jack in power up"

"Glide jack in power up"

"Roll jack in power up"

"Gutsman jack in power up"

"Iceman jack in power up"

unfortunately they too were getting overwhelmed and then suddenly

"Protoman jack in power up"

they turn and Rachel states the obvious

"Chaud...your late"

"sorry my meeting went on longer then usual"

well while all of this was happening Barrel as John got a headache and regained all his memories including the fact that he had been separated from Colonel in the river and hadn't expected to live through the journey but did

"Chargeman jack in power up...charge shot battle chip in and download"

"and take this too, air blade battle chip in and download"

"thanks dad"

with that chip and having seen Dr. Hikari using others Barrel knew who to give the final chip of five too which had been explained to Rachel in the plane that Raika from Sharo and Pride each had one as did Dingo, but first he needed the chip

"Colonel battle chip in and download"

in the net Colonel was a bit disoriented by the sudden fact of fighting but Lightman saved him

"Barrel, but how?"

"talk later fight now"

"right"

and so they continue the fight and eventually the enemy retreated and they could talk

"well I actually wasn't planning on surviving the fall, or if I did I figured the shock and cold would kill me long before I was found, but I was found by Sharo and once they taught me to live again I got a job in their government that wasn't military related"

"where's your PET then?"

"it was in the river last I knew"

"I see...um Barrel shouldn't we you know um"

"shouldn't we what Hidden Shadow?"

"call me Rachel since I revealed myself to every official here but it's classified got it?"

all the officials agreed to that

"anyways shouldn't we contact Netopia and let them know you're alive?"

"good point"

but before they could do that Raika called SciLabs

"Dr. Hikari we found something recently on the banks of our country and were wondering if someone from Netopia recognized it"

they hold up Barrel's PET

"that's where my PET went, you know it would've saved us a lot of trouble if that had stayed with me"

"what do you mean John?"

"the names not John it's Barrel"

"wait Barrel...as in the soldier Barrel the immortal of Netopia?"

"the same"

"your right this would've probably saved us some trouble we'll send it over to SciLabs since that meeting is still going to be going on for the next week"

"right"

and so Raika leaves the screen and Barrel gets a direct line to command, unfortunately the first response of Barrel reporting in wasn't well accepted

"Barrel reporting in sir"

"no way you're Barrel, Barrel's dead has been for three months now"

(sighs) "it's me sir, I had amnesia so I couldn't report in sooner"

"you're not"

"am too"

"am not"

"am too"

"am not"

and so this went on for a full minute before Barrel spits something out that makes the other man quiet for a minute

"Delta Eagle 5 free bird"

"...OK maybe you are Barrel, but a DNA test still needs to be done...at HQ"

"but of course"

he finishes the conversation and realizes everyone was staring at him because of the child like argument he'd just had

"sorry about that, it took me a minute to remember my verification code I was given if something should happen and I had to fake my death, or in this case not fake it and prove that it's really me and alive"

well time passed and then they were sent to Beyondard and separated fortunately Lan and Rachel wound up together and were picked up by Barrel


	5. Chapter 5

"Barrel!"

"Colonel power up!"

they're both shocked at that and then are asked if they're OK and with a silent agreement Rachel speaks for both of them

"we're OK Barrel...though I think we have a lot of explaining to do"

"including how you know my name...Colonel return"

and so they find a place to make camp and they talk when suddenly they hear someone and Barrel quickly gets out his weapon and Rachel gets out hers

"who's there? show yourself!"

"easy...it's just me"

Rachel instantly recognizes the voice as do Lan and Beyondard Barrel but he's actually a bit confused and Rachel runs to him

"you're safe, and alive"

"yes I'm fine"

and so Barrel comes into the light and Rachel realizes this is going to be interesting

"Barrel, meet Barrel and Barrel meet Barrel...um is it just me or is this awkward?"

"it's awkward Rachel, for now call me by my true name sis"

"if you're sure..."

"I'm sure"

"wait, Barrel's your brother Rachel?"

"older brother who disappeared on me during a Grave incident, wound up going 20 years into the past and became Barrel Netopia's soldier"

suddenly they were attacked by Zonoroid snakeman and three others and the Beyondard Barrel goes and fights and then makes Colonel come out again

"can Colonel do it?"

"he'll have to"

suddenly he collapses

"what happened?"

"he didn't have enough recharge time"

"hey Barranel..."

"oh no, I know that look and I don't like it"

"what other choice do we have?"

turns out Lan was one step ahead of them

"Megaman power up"

and they see Megaman

"looks like it worked"

"yep, Lightman power up"

"Colonel power up"

"so how exactly are we going to tell those two apart?"

"easy, hey Barranel, this is for you, I've just never had the opportunity to give it to you"

she tosses over the chip

"Buster?"

"yep it's the parts of Buster they couldn't keep in him at the time try it out, in the meantime I think I'll double our forces separation battle chip in download"

suddenly the enemy was facing both Lightman and Hiddenman

"well if it worked for you Buster battle chip in download"

and suddenly Barranel's Colonel changed into Buster

"Buster...he's back"

"until the battle's over"

and so they finally managed to take care of the enemies and then Beyondard Barrel the next day explains the limitations

"so only 10 minutes are allowed and three hour rest period got it"

and so they reunite with the group and have to face evil Colonel

"great he's evil"

well eventually they went back into their own world and things were going fine...until Rachel was sucked into a time portal herself during a revival of Grave and then her older self had to face her younger self and naturally her older self won

"what now?"

"now...we wait"

suddenly there was an attack and everyone from her past went out and so did she and she made it managing to save her past self if only barely

"thank you"

"no need to thank me, in fact if I hadn't succeeded this entire group would've blamed me the rest of my life and so would I have"

"how do you know this?"

"don't ask, now then I don't have much time left so hear me out, I'm not March like I told you my real name is Rachel, yes the same Rachel that stands before the closed portal, I was sucked into the past like Barrel" (they knew his story by now) "and so I became old, now then goodbye and good luck, you won't remember this conversation"

and so her old self disappears and her true self goes nuts in battle. Three months later Rachel was falling into a ravine like Barrel did ages ago but she did something different


	6. Chapter 6

"Barranel, my PET, take care of it"

she tosses her PET to Barrel and then goes over the edge

"goodbye Rachel, I'll miss you"

"come on Barrel, we still have Grave to deal with"

"right they're going to pay for sending me into the past and taking away my sister from me"

"he's mad"

"no kidding"

well they were still facing some Grave agents that day and he went nuts against them he was that mad but eventually they made it to SciLabs

"so where's Rachel?"

the group just looks at the ground in answer and commander Beef recognizes the answer

"I see...so how should we do it since not everyone knew her secret?"

"say Hidden Shadow retired for personal reasons and have a funeral for Rachel"

"that will work, her PET?"

Barrel hands over her PET

"so we have her PET but nothing else, Barrel I think you should keep it for now"

"it belongs with her parents not me"

"they're your parents too Barrel"

"no they're not, they haven't been for a long time"

"but Barrel..."

"no commander Beef, when the time came for me to disappear due to Grave Netopia offered me a chance to tell my parents the truth but because of the fact that I'm a soldier of Netopia and constantly in danger I decided that they would never find out about me to keep them safe"

"so how did Rachel find out about you?"

"she had her suspicions and then with your permission gave them her net agent identity remember?"

"right, it's been a while since that day so I sort of forgotten, but at the same time I haven't because Netopia has been great allies"

"that reminds me Dr. Hikari this belongs to you"

and so Barrel tosses Dr. Hikari a Colonel chip

"Colonel?, what's this for?"

"when you up and fought the enemy too I knew that I wanted you to have that chip, as you saw at the attack the chip calls Colonel to you if you need him, but only if he's not already in a battle"

"understood"

"hey Barrel you have anymore of those chips?"

"sorry Lan I don't"

"darn"

"but I can quickly have some made because you and Chaud have also proven worthy of the chip"

"say Barrel why'd you only make five to begin with?"

"because they're special to me, plus it limits the amount of people able to call on him at will"

"I see, well at least stay for the funeral, and to give her PET back to her family, since she entrusted the PET to you"

later that week they held the funeral but instead of taking the PET they told Barrel to keep it

"we don't know a thing about net battling and to be honest she gave it to you to keep because we're sure she knew you might have need of it"

"thank you"

and so he leaves. On the plane

(thinking) " _don't worry mom, dad, I'll honor Rachel to the best of my abilities with her PET, even if it takes me a little time to actually use it_ "

at the Netopian airport

"hey Barrel, you're late"

"sorry I had to attend a funeral"

"funeral?"

"yes the funeral of...the funeral of..."

suddenly Barrel who never shows emotion in public and hardly ever in private breaks down at the terminal. Realizing that this wasn't good the two older army officials got Barrel up and started walking him out of there and Dingo quickly follows behind, once in the car Barrel just continues crying until he falls asleep completely drained from the past few days of emotional turmoil he'd been through. At the base medics took over having been informed of Barrel's emotional break down and the preliminary physical shocked them

"he's malnourished, dehydrated, and exhausted commander"

"how is that possible?"

"unknown sir, but it looks like he took to not eating or sleeping for a few days"

"looks like Barrel will have some explaining to do once he wakes up"

Dingo speaks up

"wait, before his emotional break down he mentioned a funeral, could he possibly mean..."

"you know it  _would_  explain his condition, if he can confirm it"

"what are you guys talking about?"

"something you're not cleared for but Dingo is"

and so they talk in private about the possibility of Rachel being dead. The next day Barrel wakes up in the infirmary hooked up to an IV

"what...where am I?"

"you're awake, you're in the infirmary and staying here until released"

"understood"

well Dingo and the commanders cleared come in

"Barrel before you broke down you mentioned a funeral you had to attend"

"yes, it was Rachel's funeral, she's dead, Grave killed my baby sister"

Barrel said that in a monotone voice but in such a way that it made the others worry about his mental health

"Barrel you're staying here until you're cleared by the doctors as you know but for now, welcome home and make sure to get some rest"

they all go to a private meeting room

"this isn't good he's in a bad state mentally"

"it's the loss of his sister I think he's trying to process all of it"

"if not for the fact that him having a family is top secret I'd send him to grief counseling"

"wait, outside of the group the cover story is that they became close friends during his therapy session when he got injured a few years back, maybe we could use that as cover for grief counseling"

"no I'm afraid that won't work with these guys, due to the war with Grave they're only dealing with soldiers and families of soldiers who have lost people to Grave and as for the soldiers they're making it mandatory for unit commanders to meet with them if they lose anyone of the unit"

"drat, and he could use the counseling too"

"yes he could, well Dingo, looks like your on health duty for Barrel"

"right hope he takes to it fine"

"same here"

well three months later Barrel was still on Dingo parole as it had become known as he was definitely better then he used to be but still too unstable for Dingo's liking

"sorry colonel, but you know the rules, until I find you mentally fit I have to be with you almost every where's you go"

"I know it's just, I feel I'm doing better then I used to"

"you are Barrel, but remember that little 'incident' that happened just last week"

"I remember"

_a week ago_

"hey Barrel, I got some surprising news for you"

"what is it Lan?"

"there's a possibility that Rachel's alive, or if not alive at least a body we can finally bury"

but it turns out that it wasn't the truth they had neither a body or Rachel alive and that evening when Barrel received the news he tried to kill himself in his despair because of the fact that he had gotten his hopes up high, fortunately Dingo was with him at the time and his freedom was restricted again due to the attempted suicide

_present_

"then you know why I can't allow you to be alone"

"I know Dingo, I know"

well suddenly they see someone out in the distance walking and actually looking injured. When they got closer to the person they were  _shocked_  at who the person resembled

"OK first let's not get our hopes up too high again and second let's get her some medical attention"

and so they get her to the nearest hospital and once in private Barrel makes the request to the doctor

"doctor could you do some DNA testing for us?"

"what for?"

"well this person looks like someone we knew and we just want to confirm it"'

"someone you knew?"

"it's complicated"

and so the doctors do the DNA testing and Dingo and Barrel are pleasantly shocked at the results

"so who's telling them?"

"you because you know her best"

"ah but you've been over there more often"

"only because you've been busy with protecting the country more often"

"hey lately they've made you pretty busy yourself"

they stare at each other for a minute

"net battle to settle this?"

"nope, rock, paper, scissors"

"hm good idea"

Barrel lost

"you get to tell them"

"fine but you get to tell the commanders"

"right"

and so they go their separate ways and Barrel contacts SciLabs

"Barrel what's wrong?"

"can you contact Lan and his friends and the net agents Dr. Hikari?"

"actually they're all here for their weekly meeting"

"weekly meeting?"

"yes things have certainly changed in the past three months"

_three months ago after the funeral_

"what now?"

(sighs) "first of all I think we should have a meeting and all come out into the open about who we are exactly and who does what for the internet"

"but commander what place is large and secure enough for such a meeting?"

"SciLabs, my dad has important meetings there all the time and he has a huge room with ultra high security, I'm sure if you requested the room he'd give it to you"

and so that's what commander Beef does and he's easily given the room

"alright first of all I'm really Maysa"

he takes off his helmet and the group is shocked Black Rose is next

"I'm Sal"

finally Mysteriyu takes off her disguise

"I'm Miyu"

"wow I wasn't expecting this"

"we know Lan, and we're sorry for hiding our identity from you after you found out about Rachel"

(shakes his head) "no Maysa, I mean Commander Beef you guys did it to keep us and everyone else safe, we understand"

and so they talked about duties and rest periods for everyone was imposed so that they didn't risk a burnout by anyone

"well what happens now that that's been decided?"

"I propose we meet here once a week to keep each other updated and also I have a feeling that talking to others who understand what your going through will keep us mentally stable"

"agreed"

and so with everyone's agreement and Dr. Hikari's consent they book the room for a weekly meeting but do mention the day will vary depending on schedules

_present_

"and so ever since then they've held their weekly meetings except last week and that was because half the group was in the hospital due to injuries incurred from a falling building"

and so he's patched through

"sorry for interrupting your meeting but I have some information you'll want to hear"

"what is it Barrel?"

"they failed"

"...huh?"

"Grave failed"

"what did Grave fail?"

"Rachel's alive"

that shocks everyone and Chaud is the first to speak up

"Barrel are you sure?, it could be an imposter which we had to deal with a day after our devastating news"

"did you guys do DNA testing?"

"yes"

"and did they pass?"

"no that's why we knew it wasn't her"

"well this person passed the DNA testing"

"WHAT!"

"it's true she's in the hospital unconscious right now, the doctors weren't finished when I called you but as far as Dingo and I could tell it's simple exhaustion and dehydration"

suddenly there's a voice off screen and Barrel replies to it

"correction, looks like there's more to it than I thought, apparently there's evidence of physical torture, we won't know if there's been any mental torture but fortunately she hasn't been touched inappropriately so that's a relief"

"Barrel do you know when she'll wake up?"

"I'm afraid not Black Rose"

"understood, be careful you don't know if the enemy is looking for her"

"don't worry I will be careful, I've already lost her once I don't want to lose her again"

"quick question though, we haven't had any reports of Lightman being used since right before we lost her, why?"

"easy so that other countries don't know that we have another navi at our disposal with the 'death' of their netop, Grave certainly knows and has reported it to their superiors but no one else knows"

"so you've been using Lightman?"

"after the first two weeks all the time"

suddenly they hear Dingo's voice

"next time Barrel, you're coming with me I just got chewed out even with the report of her being alive"

"oops forgot I'm still on Dingo parole"

"if she wakes up mostly OK you'll be off parole, mainly because I know that having her alive has helped your mental state by at least fifty percent"

"um what's Dingo talking about Barrel?"

"nothing Lan forget it, well I have to go see when she's allowed visitors so I can try and be there when she wakes up"

with that he hangs up leaving a very confused group looking at each other


	7. Chapter 7

"Lan have you had any communication from him in the past three months besides today?"

"yeah, he tries to e-mail me at least once a week, but he's never mentioned being watched by Dingo"

"could you tell his mental state from the e-mails?"

"he seemed like he was coping with it"

"and when we gave him the devastating news?"

"seemed to be normal, well almost normal"

"what do you mean?"

"he normally contacts me on Saturday as the only free day he has, but he didn't instead on Sunday he contacted me and said he had been really tired on Saturday and slept all day"

the net agents looked at each other

"could it be...?"

"with her being his sister it is possible but Netopia would have informed us"

"not necessarily Mysteriyu"

"true enough"

"um what are you guys talking about?"

"it's possible that the higher ups were worried about his mental health after he came back from the funeral so they had Dingo keep an eye on him and if what I'm thinking is correct he was put into a safe cell on base so he couldn't kill himself"

"WHAT!"

"it's likely after hearing our report about Rachel he tried to kill himself, if not for Dingo he might have succeeded"

"man, that's news"

well they eventually conclude their meeting

"so when's the meeting next week?"

"actually I think we should cancel our meetings until Rachel comes back and then catch her up on everything that's been going on since her disappearance, and I'm sure she'll have things to tell us as well"

"actually commander if you want to catch her up on what's happening that means you must keep yourself updated"

"good point, very well how's Wednesday sound to you?"

"works for me"

"us too, there's some sort of teachers meeting that day so schools closed"

meanwhile in Netopia Rachel was to be allowed visitors the next day so they head back to base. The next day they both get to the hospital and find her still unconscious but that wasn't surprising to them considering what had happened to her, instead they talked about shifts and who would take which so that at least one person was with her at all times

"so I'll take mornings and you'll take evenings and both of us will be here for an hour each day in case she wakes up in the afternoon"

"right"

"works for me"

and so they start their shifts but for three days nothing happens and even the doctors get a little worried but they shouldn't have because of the fact that her mind had gone into net agent training for her own protection

_in Rachel's mind_

"well, well looks like she's still a defiant one"

"she'll regret that defiance soon enough sir, I'm sure of it"

"then if you're so confidant why hasn't she been broken yet"

"unknown sir, but I'm ready for some new torture techniques to be used on her, maybe that will break her spirit"

"let's hope she never finds out she's near Netopia, if she does that could be trouble"

(thinking) " _Netopia?, I've been near Netopia the whole time and I didn't even notice, well thank you for speaking that loud enough for me to hear that_ "

"even if she ever finds out sir, she's already considered dead, why have you kept her anyways, she doesn't have her PET on her"

"why do you think I've been giving her navi's that have failed our normal tests?"

"wait, they do pretty good under her when they battle"

"exactly, she's a great net battler, that's why I keep her, though if we don't break her soon I might just kill her"

they get out of hearing distance but Rachel has one more thought for the night

(thinking) " _try and kill me you creeps, just you try, I've known an escape route for some time, all I needed was an idea of where I was and you just provided that to me_ "

and so the next evening after a grueling net battle, she manages to escape the building and the intense security, finally making it to Netopia three days after her escape, battered, bruised and extremely exhausted but alive

_real world_

well it had been three days since she was allowed visitors and it was getting to be evening when Dingo heard Rachel stirring from her sleep

"Dingo?...where am I?"

"Rachel you're awake"

he walks to the door and gets the attention of a nurse who goes to get her doctor, while the nurse was getting the doctor Dingo gave Rachel an ice chip

"you've been asleep for four days already"

"four days?"

"yes, now then I have to contact someone else as well, I'll be back in a minute, holler if you need me, I'll just be right outside the door"

and so Dingo goes just outside the door and gets out his PET

"hey Barrel, wake up"

"Dingo?...do you even realize what time it is?"

"yeah and I'm sorry for waking you up at one in the morning but I thought you'd like to know that Rachel is awake"

"Rachel...awake...huh?"

"you know the baby sister you've been frantic about for the past four days, that Rachel, ring a bell?"

"She's awake!"

"isn't that what I just told you?"

"I'll be there as soon as possible Dingo, thanks for waking me up"

Barrel hangs up quite abruptly but Dingo doesn't blame him instead he just shakes his head in amazement and goes back into the room, which by then had her doctor checking her out


	8. Chapter 8

"what's the last thing you remember?"

"walking for quite some time without rest to get away from the creeps who had me when my body finally gave out to exhaustion"

"well you're in a Netopian hospital right now and I must tell you I'm surprised your still alive after what you've been through"

"I'm actually surprised as well doctor, when I collapsed I actually thought I was at the end of the line"

"fortunately you were found by two citizens who brought you here, one of them is here right now having taken what they call the night shift"

(smiles) "I actually know him, he's one of my friends"

"I see well I'll just leave you two alone for now"

and with that the doctor leaves and Dingo speaks up

"Rachel I hate to do this but do you remember what happened to you after you fell into the ravine?"

"yes Dingo I remember, but I'm not saying a word until Barrel gets here"

"fair enough, I'm sure you only want to repeat yourself so many times"

"exactly"

well half an hour later Barrel gets to the room and the two siblings hug each other

"Rachel I thought you were dead"

"to be honest Barrel, I thought I was dead too, that's why I gave you my PET"

"speaking of which, here this belongs to you"

he hands Rachel her PET back

"thank you for taking care of them"

"no problem sis"

"so Barranel, want to hear her side of the story?"

"absolutely"

"OK three months ago I was falling into the ravine when suddenly I was grabbed by a line and hauled up into a cave that was made in the side of the mountain, once they were sure you were gone we went back up the cliff and were picked up by a helicopter. Once on board I was blindfolded and drugged so I was asleep most of the trip, once there they continually tortured and made me net battle so I could become a good little soldier like they wanted me to, but I never bent to their will and once I found out that I was near Netopia I escaped, but let me tell you some of what they did I do  _not_  want to talk about because it was just too horrible, but I will tell you this much, they beat me over half the time and made images of you guys dying whenever I was hooked up to a machine"

"so when did you make your escape plan?"

"oh three weeks after I arrived at the location I had it all figured out except for the area I was in, I needed that to know about how far away I was from help"

"always the net agent"

"you know it"

"so how did you find out you were near Netopia?"

"the idiots spoke loud enough for me to hear, once I knew I was near Netopia it was just a matter of escaping and then keeping away from the creeps"

"that's amazing"

"so know when I'll get out of here?"

"sorry Rach, but it's not happening for a while"

(sighs) "thought as much, hey, you haven't called me that in ages, even after we reunited you've been formal around me, even in private"

"I know and I'm sorry about that but you know as well as I do that we can't afford a slip up at an inopportune time"

(sighs) "I know I know but still, I've missed the nick names"

"you know your parents invited me over a month ago and showed me home videos that they made even after I was gone"

(sighs) "yeah even though they were constantly busy, they still made time for the home videos that they could do, at first it seemed like it was just a way to bring you back but some time during the second year I realized that it wasn't to bring you back it was their way of remembering the good times before this mess all started and also a way of getting back to a sense of normality"

(laughs) "yeah they showed me one video of when you were five and I was fifteen and you jumped into my arms happy to see me again after having been gone a month on a field trip with my class"

"I remember that day, I was starting to wonder if you'd ever come back like you promised because they never told me when your flight would return, so when I saw you walking up the pathway I was so excited I didn't even give you a chance to get through the door, I just ran right towards you and tackled you good"

"yeah and then they also showed me videos of after I disappeared, it was nice to see what you couldn't tell me, or you figured I had to experience myself, you know with those videos in a way I was experiencing them myself"

"I know they have a way of doing that to people"

"and I'm glad they do because it was almost as if I was there myself which I should have been"

"Barrel, what happens after I'm released?"

"nothing except going home and debriefing your friends, who have some news for you as well"

"thanks Barrel, and Barrel?"

"yes Rachel?"

"keep Barranel close in your heart even if you can't express your true self"

(smiles) "I will Rachel, but you know as well as I do that being a soldier can take emotions and your true self right out of you"

(sighs) "yeah I know but hey at least you have your full memory"

"true and to be honest that's all I'll ever really need"

well a few days later Rachel was cleared to leave the hospital but wasn't cleared to fly back to Dentech at the moment

"looks like you're stuck here for now Rachel"

"yep I'm stuck here, but only until I'm medically cleared for flying again"

"until then I never did give you that complete tour I promised you last time"

"Dingo last time I was here was for a funeral and wasn't really in the mood to see the whole town anyways, not to mention we went back in our thoughts and both our moods blackened by that"

"true enough"

and so Rachel got the full tour she'd been needing for quite some time and a week later she was finally cleared to fly home


	9. Chapter 9

"take care Rachel...oh and try  _not_  to get yourself captured or killed"

"same goes for you Barrel"

and with that she leaves and Barrel and Dingo head towards the base when they realized something

"hey Dingo...I just realized something"

"what?"

"my parole has been over for about a week now yet we're still going places together"

"...you know you're right, but let's not forget over half the time we were showing Rachel the town and the other half of the time we were all playing catch up with one another"

by this time they had actually reached base, because they had other matters to talk about before the realization, and everyone on base was shocked at what they heard

(laughs) "true Dingo very true"

they go in while the soldiers who had just heard Barrel laugh stare in shock

"tell me I wasn't imagining things"

"unless I was imagining the same thing then no you weren't"

everyone looks at each other and comes to the same conclusion though only one person could voice it

"colonel Barrel...actually laughed"

"he showed emotion...he hardly ever does that and even then it's a disproving emotion more often then not, for him to laugh must mean something big happened"

meanwhile Dingo and Barrel let command know that Rachel got on board safely and command realized they had to tell Barrel something

"uh Barrel, you've scared the soldiers guarding the gate and a few others, and by evening the whole base will be scared of you"

"why's that sir?"

"because you showed emotion...in public, or at least as public as one is on a military base"

"...oh I guess I did didn't I?"

"what were you laughing about with Dingo anyways?"

"the fact that I've been off Dingo parole for about a week now yet we've still been together the whole time minus sleeping"

the commanders stare at each other at that revelation and then have to laugh themselves about the irony

"guess we've lost track of time haven't we?, well just to make it official colonel Barrel, you are now no longer going to be watched twenty-four seven wherever you go"

"but still why have you guys been together for that amount of time after parole was up?"

they reply together

"Rachel"

"ah you were giving her the tour and catching up weren't you?"

"yes sir"

"understandable"

well Rachel's flight was without incident and she was quickly escorted to SciLabs where she found out about the weekly meetings. Once there she catches them up on what she's been through for the past three months and they in turn start to catch her up when Beef realizes the time

"so same time same place?"

"sorry commander but we have school next week"

"true how about Saturday at noon"

"works for us we don't have school"

"sorry but I have a meeting then"

"oh, I forgot about that job you have Chaud"

"when does your meeting end?"

"it's supposed to only last an hour but due to the fact we're going to be talking about some new technology we're developing..."

"you're making no promises"

(nods) "exactly"

"OK how about we hold it Friday evening at the Hikari house I'm sure Lan's father wouldn't mind"

"hey that actually works for dad because he's been meaning to talk to you guys outside of SciLabs but doesn't know how to contact you guys"

"Chaud?"

"works for me"

"us too"

"then it's settle Friday evening at the Hikari house it is"

and so they tell Dr. Hikari about the change in plans and then they all head home

"Rachel, it's good to know you're alive"

"it's good to  _be_  alive, to be honest I thought I was going to die imprisoned by those...those creeps"

"what are you talking about Rachel?, you fell into a ravine"

"it's complicated mom, and to be honest I don't really want to talk about it to you"

"why?"

"it's...it's hard for me to talk about right now, I've already had to talk about it to Barrel and Dingo in Netopia and my friends here, I don't want to give my own parents nightmares of what I went through when I'm already going to go through it myself"

"very well"

and so the family soon settled into a new routine of Rachel waking up screaming at night because she didn't take the pills she was prescribed by Netopian doctors and her parents would run to her room to tell her it was just a dream and she'd tell them to go back to their rooms and so they continued this for five months before they finally had had enough and went to speak with the net agents who had arrived early to the weekly meeting, which had changed from SciLabs to the groups homes after the first meeting at Lan's house in which Dr. Hikari talked to the net agents about upgrading his security and interlinking it with theirs so that they knew when an attack on SciLabs happened


	10. Chapter 10

"commander Beef, we're starting to get really worried about her, she wakes up screaming every night, won't talk to us about the nightmares and also won't take those pills she was given in Netopia"

"hm, maybe we can talk her into at least the pills if not talking to you guys about what she's been through"

well the other net agents failed in getting her to take the pills or talking to her parents

"look I'm dealing with it in my own way OK?"

"you're worrying your parents over this"

"look the meeting is going to start soon, let's just do that shall we?"

and so they start updating each other on the happenings at school and other areas when suddenly Rachel's PET went off and Dingo showed up on screen

"Dingo what's up? I was going to contact either you or Barrel later this week"

"Rachel, have you seen Barrel in Dentech?"

that makes everyone pay closer attention to the conversation and Rachel sit up a little bit taller

"no, why?"

"drat, and I was hoping you had seen him, I've tried Sharo, Brightland and even a few places you haven't even been to"

"Dingo, what's going on?"

"nothing Rachel"

in a warning tone of voice Rachel speaks up again

"Dingo...tell, now"

"OK, OK, Barrel's been missing for the past week with no form of contact"

"he's missing?"

"yeah, and we've tried all the places we could think of"

"what about Colonel?, have you had any contact with him?"

"no, none"

"dang it, and Barrel wouldn't be any where's without Colonel"

"so what now?"

"now?...now we try and find Barrel wherever he is, and if he's been taken captive by the same guys that took me, well...I think you know my line of thinking right now"

"Rachel there's something else you need to know and it comes strait from command, they say it's time Rachel, time for the truth to be known, before you go off on your adventure and possibly get yourself killed"

"but I thought that, he only had one time option"

"actually they wanted him to think that, reality is if you were ever actually gone and he started to lose it, not like when he was on parole but I mean really lose it, like say try and kill himself when no one was looking, then he would be able to reveal himself for his own sanity"

"so their orders are for me to tell my parents the truth after lying to them for years, before I leave"

"yes, and Rachel if it is the guys that took you captive we have more information then you gave us"

"how?"

"guess what they tried to pull recently"

"oh, they tried to take over your country didn't they?"

"exactly"

"alright I'll tell them, get Netopia ready for more attacks, we'll get SciLabs on alert and make our plans there"

"fair enough Dingo out"

with that Dingo cuts communications and Rachel puts her PET away

"get packing, I'll tell my parents what Netopia wants me to tell them, and pack myself, meet at SciLabs in an hour"

and so everyone leaves early

"Rachel, why is everyone leaving early?"

"mom, dad, I have to leave again"

"what?"

she goes to her room and starts packing for a month in a very tiny pack because of the way she packed for trips

"why are you leaving us so soon"

"Barrel's gone missing and he might have been taken by the same group that took me, but we don't know that for sure"

she finishes packing and looks at her parents straight in the eye

"there's something else you should know before I leave possibly for a long time...Barrel, he's not who you think he is"

"what do you mean sweetie?, of course he's Barrel a Netopian soldier"

(shakes her head) "no mom, he's not Barrel or at least not the Barrel you think he is...mom, dad Barrel's true name, was Barranel, my 'dead' brother"

"what?"

"you see when he fought Grave that one time and disappeared he didn't actually die, he went twenty years into the past and landed in Netopia as well, they took him in and saved Buster, but Buster was badly damaged saving some Netopian navi's and he was saved and reformatted into a soldier himself because Barranel was to be a soldier"

"wait you mean Buster is..."

"yes mom Buster became Colonel, one of the best military navi's under the Netopian army"

"and Barranel became Barrel the immortal of the Netopian army"

"exactly"

"and now he's gone missing, possibly taken by the same group that took you"

"yeah"

"go, go and save your big brother, like you promised you would when you were younger"

(smiles) "thanks mom"

"just promise us one thing"

"what?"

"try and come back to us alive, if not perfectly OK"

"I'll try mom, dad"

and with that she leaves her house and goes to SciLabs making it there at the hour mark


	11. Chapter 11

"so is everyone ready?"

"you know it"

"then let's go find Barrel"

and so for two years they search all sorts of leads some of them dead ends, but there were a few that were good, they were only a few days late, except for one time, one time they got there just an hour after the group had left

"man we've been searching for two years and we  _still_  got nothing on them, the closest we've been is an hour late and that still wasn't good enough"

"it is definitely getting frustrating alright, but there's not much we can do"

(sighs) "I know Lan, I know"

"at least after two months we decided to split up into teams"

"yeah"

well they find a place to rest for the night which wasn't that great a place but beggars can't be choosers as the saying went but the next day they got the best lead they could have ever asked for

"hey did you guys hear what's been going on lately in this hotel?"

"no what's been going on?"

"lately in the basement people have been hearing screams late at night into early morning, I'm surprised you didn't hear anything"

"we were at the highest level of the building"

"ah that would do it then, people have found that the highest floor is best for sleep"

"so...the basement huh?"

"yeah"

"anything else you can tell us?"

"not tell...I'll show you something that I found a week ago, I'm not sure if it was meant to be found by me or not, but I've kept it safe in my room"

and so they go to his room and he shows them something they never expected

"Lan this is..."

"you're right"

"um what is it?"

"it's Barrel's PET"

"wait Barrel? I'm from Netopia I actually am a soldier of Netopia on assignment to find him"

"how did you not recognize his PET?"

"I only joined the military two months ago and they never showed me pictures of his PET, plus I think it's out of power, nothing I do makes it work, if it did I would've recognized Colonel instantly"

"think it's Barrel in the basement?"

"now that I know that's his PET I'm almost positive, I was going to leave this place in two days if I didn't have any clues to his location but now..."

"hm, I have some skills which might be useful, if I can just sneak into the basement for a look I can help devise a plan to free him, if it is indeed him there but this PET is good"

"what skills do you have?"

"well having been a prisoner myself I know what they do to places for hiding people not to mention I have photographic memory, how else do you think Netopia found the base I was forced to stay at?"

"excellent, and the two of us will run interference"

and so she manages to get a good look into the basement and actually confirms that Barrel was in there though she couldn't reveal herself to him directly she did manage to get him to think about something other than his captivity by tossing him a small piece of bread she had on her for emergencies and also managed to get a plan of the area in her head and then she left and got back to the Netopian soldiers room

"confirmation of colonel Barrel's location done"

"so Barrel  _is_  in the basement"

"yep, and knows someone knows he's there, I managed to get him a piece of bread I had on me"

and so with the plans drawn they start making themselves a plan and two days later it was time for action

"everyone knows their place correct?"

"correct, and the PET?"

"fully charged but not on, for safety reasons of course"

and so they move quick and decisively and it was decided Rachel would be the person to get Barrel out of the situation

"Rachel what...?"

"later Barrel, we're getting you out of here"

"we?"

"yep we, I'll explain later, actually the explanation won't even be long now come on we're busting out of here"

and so they get to the rendezvous point and get into the car

"go, go go go go go, move it"

"I'm moving I'm moving"

and so finally they get to a safe distance

"so Lan any problems on your end?"

"nope"

"and as you know no problems on mine, what about you soldier?"

"had to knock out a guard but we figured that might happen so no problems on my end either oh yeah, this belongs to you colonel"

and so the soldier tosses back Barrel's PET and he quickly turns it on


	12. Chapter 12

"Colonel"

"colonel Barrel, you're hurt"

"I'll be fine Colonel, what about you are you OK?"

"I'm fine sir"

(sighs in relief) "that's good to hear"

"hey Rachel I just thought of something"

"what Lan?"

"how are we going to get Barrel back to Netopia?"

"Sharo isn't all that far from here, we enter through the border on the ground and from there we get Raika's help to get Barrel home"

"works for me how about you Barrel?"

but Barrel doesn't answer having fallen asleep after making sure that Colonel was alright

"let him sleep, he's been through a lot lately"

"yeah, but wait he also needs medical attention"

"don't worry I've made arrangements with someone I know in Sharo while you guys were sleeping, he'll take care of Barrel no questions asked"

and so they get into Sharo and to the doctor and he is actually quite surprised at how good a condition Barrel was in

"the main problem is exhaustion and starvation"

"thank goodness"

"why exactly is this person in such condition anyways?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that"

"very well, keep your secrets, I did promise no questions asked after all"

well finally Barrel woke up...after three days unconscious

"hey you finally decided to wake up"

"so I am free"

"yep, and we're meeting with Raika in a few hours to see about safe passage into Netopia, the group will be looking for you now that you've escaped their grasp"

"let them try and get me...does Netopia know I've been found?"

(shakes her head) "I'm afraid not, all of us have tried to communicate with them but we've failed, we think the enemy might be blocking our communication ability either that or they've blocked Netopia's but either way there's been no communication with Netopia so far"

"understood, when will I be cleared to fly?"

"oh you've been cleared from day one, you just needed to wake up to fly"

(smiles) "that's good to hear"

and so they get to the meeting place and Raika is surprised to see Barrel

"but isn't he dead?"

"nope just taken captive by the same group that had me"

"yep, though I found out a critical piece of information they never told you"

"what is it?"

"they call themselves World Grave"

"World Grave...but that means..."

"exactly World Three and Grave have combined their forces into one"

"that can't be good"

suddenly a soldier whispers something into Raika's ear

"more bad news"

"what?"

"Barrel and the Netopian soldier can't go home"

"why not?"

"World Grave has Netopia under their control"

Lan, Rachel and Barrel speak at the same time

"not good"

"there's even more bad news I'm afraid"

"what?"

"they have the net agents, they say they'll kill them unless Dentech surrenders to them within two days"

"that's not a whole lot of time"

"wait, there's a way to sneak into Netopia, it's extremely dangerous and not advised but any soldier with more than a years experience is taught this route, and what's more it's not on a map so the enemy can't ever find it unless a soldier goes rogue and that hasn't happened yet"

"what route?"

"an underwater route, well mostly underwater, there's air in the tunnel that gives us access to the base it's hidden under, it's not only a way into Netopia but in times of extreme danger it's also a way out, I've only used the route once and it was to escape when Grave tried to take over the country"

"you were one of the ones that fought back weren't you?"

"however did you guess?"

"because I know you"

"true enough"

"oh yeah, mom and dad know the truth about you, Netopian military officials gave permission two years ago before I left for this adventure"

"I see so I guess I don't have to hide myself around them anymore"

"nope, though they do understand that you've changed since you're a soldier"

Raika speaks up

"um what are you two talking about?"

"it's complicated Raika forget you ever heard us talking like that"

"very well"

A day later all four of them made it to the secret entrance

"OK if they've managed to take over the base we're getting out of here and flooding the place back up, due to the fact that the water rushes in, there won't be an air pocket for two minutes, that gives us time to follow the current to the next country which has an agreement with Netopia regarding this entrance"

"right"

as it turned out the base  _hadn't_  been taken over in fact it was one of the last free places in the country


	13. Chapter 13

"but how are you alive Barrel?, we started to actually give up hope after we were taken over a month ago"

"fortunately you didn't manage to get that message out because I was found by Rachel, Lan and a Netopian soldier because they didn't know about the country being taken over until recently"

"agreed"

suddenly there was a bright light and everyone on base suddenly got a confused look when it became normal

"um...what's going on?"

"uh, we'll be right back...come on Dingo, you're with us"

"...right"

and so the two Barrel's, Rachel and Dingo go to the most private room available at the moment

"Barrel what's going on why are you here?"

"trouble, big trouble"

"how big is big?"

"cyber beast big"

"great and we have our own problems to deal with right now"

"what's going on here?"

"let's just say that the place you landed is currently under control of enemies right now"

"what can I do to help?"

"um...Barranel any ideas?"

"nope, Dingo?"

"don't ask me"

"if only communications were restored we could contact Lan and tell him what's going on but we can't"

"well, there might be more people from Beyondard here I wasn't alone when the attack happened"

"right, but we still have to free Netopia"

"not to mention everyone on base is confused seeing two Barrel's"

"that's a problem"

"why?"

"well you see Barrel...they don't know the truth about Barranel here, it's extremely classified for his own safety"

"...is there any place I can hide and stay out of this until we can coordinate with Lan?"

"you know I think there is"

"Barranel?"

"there's an underground basement where I live when I'm not on base, which has been a lot of time lately but that's only because of the fact that things have been crazy around here"

"come off it Barranel I just saved you from captivity"

"good point...Barrel don't ask, anyways only I know of the basement because I built it myself in case something like this should ever happen again, it has enough food and water to last two months"

"and since you should finish this up quickly what with your strongest players here I can hide out and things will be fine"

"exactly, the only problem is that we're going to have to find a way of sneaking you into the basement"

"so what exactly is going on anyways?"

"besides the fact that we're standing on the only free ground in Netopia?, not much"

"so how are you going to sneak me into that place if the whole country besides this base is controlled by the enemy?"

"that's what we're going to have to figure out"

and so Barrel stays hidden until a few days later when Barranel finally remembers something, well actually Dingo reminds him

"hey Barranel remember that tunnel that base gave you permission to build after you told them about the basement"

"oh yeah I forgot that they knew"

"and since I was there for the announcement I know as well"

"it just took you a few days to remember it"

"uh we still have a problem you two"

"oh yeah, the enemy"

"if we were in Beyondard, we could just materialize our navi's for ten minutes which would help"

"yeah"

suddenly Rachel thinks back to right before she left Dentech city for over two years

_SciLabs two years ago_

"Rachel before you go I want you to have something"

"what is it Dr. Hikari?"

"I've been working on this since the whole Beyondard mess, it's a chip that will let Lightman or Hiddenman should you so choose to come into the real world without a dimensional area, but it's never been tested"

he gives her a chip

"does Lan know about this?"

"no and I don't want him to unless absolutely necessary"

"how long will it last?"

"I'm not sure but if you feel your navi in danger take out the chip and they'll instantly go back into the net"

"I understand but you know it's likely that it'll only last ten minutes like in Beyondard"

"like I said I don't know how long it'll last plus it's a prototype so there might be some problems"

clenches it in her fist

"I understand, thank you Dr. Hikari I'll use the chip wisely"

"I know you will"

_present_

"I might have a way of protecting us, but it's iffy and might not last for very long"

"any extra time is better than none Rachel"

"right, but still a car would also help"

"sorry they were all destroyed remember?"

"right then we're going on foot"

"let's go"

and so the four of them get ready to run to the base that was in enemy territory but fortunately not too far from the safe base. Fifteen minutes later they were surrounded by the enemy which was using robots


	14. Chapter 14

"realization battle chip in download"

"say what?"

suddenly Lightman shows up and gets one of the robots immediately

"Lightsword battle chip in download"

the enemy is quickly taken care of and they start running again with Lightman right behind them

"hey Rachel where did you get that chip?"

"from your father Lan, he wasn't sure if it would work or not this is just a prototype so he made me promise not to let you know about it until absolutely necessary"

"I get it"

well an hour later they were safely at the base and Lightman was still in the real world without a dimensional area

"looks like it works for at least an hour"

"yeah"

"come on the tunnel should be close by"

"just a minute, Lightman return"

and so eventually they make it it the room

"you should be safe here Barrel and once we free Netopia we'll help you with Beyondard"

"thank you"

and so three weeks later they finally succeeded in freeing Netopia and naturally World Grave went into hiding to recuperate

"they'll be back once they recover"

"we know but for now we have other problems to deal with"

"like what Lan?"

"we'll tell you when we get back, oh and be ready for Dingo and Barrel as well"

"wait you guys found Barrel?"

"yep, we just couldn't tell you because of communication trouble"

"understood"

two days later the group made it to SciLabs and those that had been in Beyondard instantly recognized Beyondard Barrel and trouble

"what's happened in Beyondard Barrel?"

"the cyber beasts, they're back guys and stronger then ever we tried to stop them but Iris..."

"Iris and Trill were taken captive weren't they?"

"yes...and there's more bad news some of my team were surely sucked into this world too and they're probably lost and confused"

"speaking of which"

Phakchi comes out and hugs Barrel in relief (she could tell the two apart from before)

"you're safe"

"the others?"

"it appears we were the only two brought to this world"

"thank goodness"

"Barrel any way of getting us back to Beyondard?"

"not sure Lan, but maybe our PET's will do the trick"

"right, let's hope so"

and as it turned out it did work but only those that had been there before could go so Lan, Dingo, Chaud, Maylu, Rachel, and Barranel went back into Beyondard where all of them would get a pleasant surprise though none of them knew it yet

"man Barrel what happened here?"

"like I said the cyber beasts returned without warning and ravaged the place"

"and just when things were getting back to normal too"

"whoa Phakchi cool down already"

"well excuse me if seeing our hopes of peace being flushed down the drain in an instant"

"I know, I know and what's worse is that Iris and Trill were at the celebration of the final building being completed when they were abducted"

"and everyone tried to get them back?"

"yep and some paid for it too"

"how so?"

"Slashman is gone like Colonel"

"oh...we didn't mean to bring back bad memories"

"it's OK he sacrificed himself for Sharkman so I know it was for a good cause but still"

well they finally reach a group of people and easily discover Kirisaki and the group

"so looks like everyone's ready for a fight again"

"no kidding"

well that night they heard something approaching and Barranel, Barrel and Rachel ran out ready to defend the group since the others were resting after a hard battle just hours earlier

"ready?"

"you bet"

"just remember..."

"right if we bring our navi's out we only have ten minutes to take the enemy down"

"exactly"

they each get their weapons out hoping not to need their navi's and that's when the surprise came Beyondard Colonel showed up badly wounded

"C...C...Colonel!"

"Colonel return!"

Colonel is quickly returned to Barrel and shows up as a hologram briefly

"colonel Barrel, I found you at last...good"

with that he disappears from view but all of them knew he was just resting

"what happened to him?"

"better question is, how is he back?"

well the next day they all have a meeting as well as an update

"anything happen last night guys?"

"um..."

"nope"

"yeah nothing happened at all"

the rest of the group looks at the patrol suspiciously

"are you sure guys?"

"well..."

(sighs) "time to wake up"

and so Beyondard Colonel appears in hologram form still wounded but much better than the night before

"wait wasn't he destroyed?"

"we thought so too"

"I was destroyed however I was brought back, by the one who took Iris and Trill and brought back the cyber beasts"

"who?"

"Dr. Regal"

Lan, Chaud, Maylu, Dingo, Barranel and Rachel just groan at this and at the same time

"him again?"

"uh, you know this Dr. Regal guy?"

"you could say so"

"in our world there's another Dr. Regal and well..."

"let's just say he took Lan's father captive and made us think Barranel here was dead for a time"

"not to mention the whole mess when cross fusion was first being done"

"oh yeah how could I forget that?"

"there's more"

"what?"

"Phakchi, Slashman's alive, he doesn't delete navi's, instead he captures them making their netops believe they're dead"

"that creep...when I get my hands on him..."

"cool it Phakchi, you can't do anything half cocked is that understood?"

"yes Barrel, it's understood"

"Colonel how did he bring you back?"

"to be honest I don't know but I do know this he was going to use me against my friends and comrades but my will was too strong, however I do have a very nice ability thanks to him"

"what's that?"

"I can fully control the beast factor within me without the need of Iris"

"that's actually good news for once...is that why you made it to us?"

"exactly plus even when I'm not in beast out mode as you guys call it I can stay out for twenty minutes instead of the usual ten"

"hey Rachel"

"what Lan?"

"maybe that chip my father made will have the same effect"

(shakes her head) "sorry Lan but I'm not going to use that chip here if I can avoid it"

"I get it, it's dangerous isn't it?"

"you don't know the half of it...before we came here I had a private meeting with your father and while he was glad the chip worked for an hour we found out that it causes a lot of damage to the navi that uses it, it's not obvious at first, but if Lightman had been out any longer he would've started to slowly show signs of the chip affecting him"

"anyways, we have Colonel back and we know that the others are still alive, now all we have to do is find Dr. Regal's labs and take him down"

"right"

"that's not going to be easy with the cyber beasts around"

"we can take it...with a little time and help from all the others"

"there's still one problem you guys haven't rea...ngh"

"Colonel?..."

Colonel disappears from holographic form but they still weren't panicked

"looks like Colonel is still pretty badly wounded"

"what happened to him?"

"who knows but I certainly don't like it"

well they start walking toward the Wily lab but halfway there there was a big problem, mainly Zonoriod's


	15. Chapter 15

"great they're back"

"Protoman power up"

"Tomahawkman power up"

fortunately they were all that was needed for that battle and later that day they made it to the Wily lab unfortunately they wound up having to use Sharkman and Roll as well

"at least we're conserving our strengths"

"yes but Colonel is still badly wounded"

well they stayed the night and unknowingly to the group being in the lab hooked up actually repaired Colonel

"colonel Barrel wake up somethings coming"

"I'm up Colonel"

he gets up ready for anything and sees viruses and starts attacking but starts getting overwhelmed, fortunately Rachel and Barranel were also up because they decided to make breakfast so they called out their navi's

"Lightman power up"

"Colonel power up"

"put me out there Barrel I can take them"

"no Colonel you're not healed yet"

but suddenly Colonel's holographic form shows up completely recovered

"you're OK"

"exactly and ready to fight too"

"we're still waiting because we'll need all the navi's we can have if more show up"

"right"

fortunately the viruses were taken care of by the two navi's and just in time too

"that was close"

"too close if you ask me"

"well looks like we've used up our ten minutes"

"just until three hours are done, after that you can bring them back"

"we know it's just..."

"yeah I think I understand what you guys mean"

they head back inside ready for breakfast and Colonel explains what was done to him after he was brought back

"so basically you had a lot of fights and you also had to readjust to being in Barrel's PET"

"exactly"

"well what now?"

"unknown we could head for the Hikari labs but that would prove futile in the end"

"so I ask again what now?"

they all think and then finally Colonel comes up with the solution

"we keep searching until we find them, and maybe just maybe we'll find out more about the enemy as well"

"wait you've been his prisoner but you don't know much about Dr. Regal?"

"I'm afraid not"

"but if you've been his prisoner this whole time why don't you know anything about him?"

"all I know is that he likes to experiment on navi's other than that nothing because he kept us in cages, not to mention most of his work was done in a private room of his"

well suddenly they were surrounded by Zonoroid's

"guys..."

"Colonel power up"

"Sharkman power up"

"Woodman power up"

"Skullman power up"

fortunately they only needed those four and also fortunately Colonel could end the fight on his own

"OK so do we keep walking this way or not?"

"keep walking this way"

"right"

well they eventually find Dr. Regal's base but unfortunately there were so many defenses they weren't sure how to break through when Beyondard Colonel came up with a plan everyone refused

"oh no you don't Colonel, we are  _not_  losing you again after having gotten you back only recently"

"but..."

"I'd rather lose Lightman or Hiddenman before losing you"

and everyone could tell Rachel was serious about that threat

"so how are we going to get in then?"

(smirks) "easy"

everyone backs away from Rachel due to her smirk but the plan actually works and they manage to actually free Trill and Iris, and Iris is surprised to see Colonel again

"explanations later, fight now"

"Lightman power up"

"Megaman power up"

"Protoman power up"

"Roll power up"

"Searchman power up"

"Tomahawkman power up"

"Slashman power up"

"Sharkman power up"

"Woodman power up"

"Skullman power up"

"Killerman power up"

the two Barrel's look at each other and hold out their PET's

"Colonel power up"

right after that Barranel uses a very unique chip

"Buster battle chip in download"

and it quickly activates

"alright now we can tell the two apart, separation battle chip in download"

and so all of the navi's go nuts on the place and they actually manage to take both Regal and the cyber beasts down, though both Colonel and Megaman had to beast out on them to do so


	16. Chapter 16

"looks like things are back to normal"

"yes now we just have to rebuild everything again"

"you'll manage you always do somehow"

"true"

and with that Lan, Chaud, Dingo, Maylu, Raika, Rachel and Barrel go back to their world and are very happy to be reunited with friends and family. Eventually Dingo and Barrel retired from the military and Barrel came home to his family and retook his true name of Barranel, while Rachel stopped being a net agent, Lan, Chaud and Raika also retired from both the Sharo military and being net saviors a few years after the others while the other net agents continued on for a few more years after they left but eventually knew they had to leave due to old age, but before they officially retired they name their successors which were the kids of Lan, Chaud, Rachel and surprisingly Dex

"...and so there are net agents and net saviors even to this day"

"wow, hey why can't you tell us more about what Rachel did as a net agent grandma?"

"well that's because a lot of what Rachel did as a net agent is still considered classified even if everyone knows her agent identity"

"and the other net agents that retired?"

"their identities are known only to the net police or their few friends that are still alive for their own safety"

"and did everyone from Netopia military find out about Barranel?"

"no that too was kept secret by the higher ups of the Netopian military for safety reasons as well"

"are you making this up?"

"no sweetie I'm not making this up"

"then where's the evidence?"

"there can't be any evidence I already told you it's simply too dangerous"

suddenly the news came on

"we now have a breaking development, it looks like a dimensional area has popped up in the middle of Dentech city, officials say they don't know the cause of the barrier but they are certain of one thing, that it could be related to a series of recent attacks at places with rare metals officials are warning citizens..."

suddenly an adult comes out of the kitchen

"sorry mom, but could you take care of the kids for a little longer I'm afraid I forgot something at the store and with the recent trouble I don't want to risk them getting caught in the crossfire like you did when you were a kid...or so you say"

"of course honey I'll stay wit my grand kids until you get back"

and with that the mother leaves

"she's always leaving suddenly, either she is or dad says something about the lab"

meanwhile at the site

"synchro battle chip in and download"

inside the barrier

"Lightman Jr. how kind of you to join us but this time you're out numbered"

"hey Darkloid, you're forgetting something, where there's one of us..."

suddenly a whole bunch of navi's that look just like the navi's of Lan, Chaud, Maylu, Dex, Tori, Yai, Rachel, Dingo and Barrel show up and speak at the same time

"there's more of us"

the Darkloid just backs up slowly knowing him and his friends are in trouble while the cross fusion team starts the attack on the enemy


End file.
